Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As many of you have likely read, the City Council recently voted 5-4 to defund Seattle's homelessness outreach entity known as the Navigation Team. The Navigation Team is housed within the Human Services Department and composed of police and social workers. They provide services to people living in unsanctioned encampments, make offers of shelter to people experiencing homelessness, and in some cases, most controversially, remove unsanctioned encampments.        

I was one of the council members who voted against defunding the Navigation Team. While it is undeniable that the practices of the Navigation Team need to be reassessed and changed, I generally do not support removing a service before a replacement strategy can be stood up. However, the vote has been made, I respect the decision of the Council, and look forward to working with my colleagues to craft a successor strategy to meet the scale of the crisis in front of us.

This Wednesday, August 19th, at 3:30 p.m., I will be having a town hall with service providers and community leaders to discuss new ways we can provide outreach and services to our neighbors living in unsanctioned encampments as well as the outreach services already done by nonprofits.

The panel will include:

• Executive Director Colleen Echohawk from the Chief Seattle Club
• Executive Director Sharon Lee from the Low Income Housing Institute
• Co-Director Chloe Gale from REACH
• Alison Eisinger from the King County Coalition on Homelessness
• A representative from The Urban League. 

I hope you can join us for this discussion.